Hull has had its fair share of weird and wonderful tales in its history. Mike Covell talks David Spereall through 600 years worth of unique stories from the city's past that have really caught the imagination.

Wine Gauger

It sounds like the dream job for casual drinker.

In April 1415, Hull was granted the rights to have a wine gauger, whose job it was to check as much of the area's wine on behalf of the Mayor as he could.

The role came and went throughout the years but, sadly for those partial to a few glasses, no longer.

Pirates in the Humber

In 1577, a number of pirates found sailing in the Humber were captured by the authorities and dragged to court.

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Lord Langdale stormed the Citadel and Copley and his men were arrested. The date would later become known as "Town Taking Day" and was a holiday for many years in Hull, where children would get the day off school and church bells would ring.

Earthquake hits Hull

In August 1750, an early-morning earthquake shook the city. But while no rumbling was heard, the shock was felt throughout the area.

Several fiery meteors were subsequently seen in the sky for a number of evenings afterwards.

Red sky at night: Fireballs were seen above Hull following an earthquake in 1750. (Image: AP Photo/Pornvilai Carr)

Shark attack in the Humber

In a scene that smacks of a 19th century version of the film Jaws, a group of children playing near the Potteries on the River Humber in October 1823 were allegedly attacked by a shark.

Woman 'spontaneously combusts'

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Contemporary magazines and books reported this as spontaneous human combustion, but later newspaper reports said that Mrs Clarke had died in a tragic accident when she went to light a candle in her nightdress.

River Humber turns blue

Many locals would welcome the River Hull turning blue in a mimicry of beautiful foreign seas and oceans. But although October 1975 did see the local waters change to a brighter shade, it turned out this was a results of a chemical leak at Reckitt's.

A failed pump spilt ultra-marine blue dye into the river, but after the clean-up operation it soon returned to its natural brown palour.